- Feb 5, 2002
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Whatever joy the free world felt at the release of Ohad Ben Ami, Eli Sharabi, and Or Levy on Saturday was almost immediately replaced by a quiet and collective horror. The world watched, in shock, as three gaunt, once-healthy men were paraded around a Gaza stage, humiliated. To the ones who knew them best, they were almost unrecognizable — hollow versions of the fathers and husbands whose 491-day nightmare had finally come to an end. “I hugged him,” Or’s brother said solemnly. “But he wasn’t the same.”
The anguish of captivity was etched across their faces, their hollow cheekbones — a story of torture, starvation, and fear. They were hung by their feet for hours at a time, tied with rope or bound, sometimes gagged, strangled, or even burned. After long stretches of days without food or water, they would have rotten pita bread to eat. “We were treated like animals,” one hostage said blankly.
If you were lucky, you were kept above ground — in people’s apartments, where there were windows, sunlight, and room to pace. The less fortunate, like these three, were forced to live in almost complete darkness, suffocating in the humidity of the tunnels and malnourished. Most have gone months without showers or medical care. And as time has gone on, their captors have become more brutal, the freed hostages warn — more aggressive.
Continued below.
washingtonstand.com
The anguish of captivity was etched across their faces, their hollow cheekbones — a story of torture, starvation, and fear. They were hung by their feet for hours at a time, tied with rope or bound, sometimes gagged, strangled, or even burned. After long stretches of days without food or water, they would have rotten pita bread to eat. “We were treated like animals,” one hostage said blankly.
If you were lucky, you were kept above ground — in people’s apartments, where there were windows, sunlight, and room to pace. The less fortunate, like these three, were forced to live in almost complete darkness, suffocating in the humidity of the tunnels and malnourished. Most have gone months without showers or medical care. And as time has gone on, their captors have become more brutal, the freed hostages warn — more aggressive.
Continued below.
Hostage Horrors: Returning Captives Outrage Leaders, Jeopardize Ceasefire
Whatever joy the free world felt at the release of Ohad Ben Ami, Eli Sharabi, and Or Levy on Saturday was almost immediately replaced by a quiet and collective
